World's Largest Crocodile, Lolong, Dies From Mystery Illness

The animal measured 6.17 meters (20.24 feet) from head to tail

This past Sunday night, the world's largest crocodile died in captivity in the Philippines, after spending a total of 17 months living in a relatively small enclosure and entertaining tourists.

For the time being, veterinarians are yet to make head and tail of Lolong's exact cause of death. Thus, information made available to the general public up until now says that the crocodile passed away because of a mystery illness.

Furthermore, it looks like the decision to catch it and force it to live the rest of its days in captivity stemmed from the fact that this saltwater crocodile was presumed to be a man-eater.

“This is a very, very sad day for us. He had brought fame to our town. We are now thinking of having his remains preserved,” a spokesperson for Bunawan, i.e. the town where this crocodile lived and died in captivity, told members of the press.